


when the world is cold

by allourheroes



Series: with just a hint of pain [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Companion Piece, Dreams and Nightmares, Gen, M/M, Missing Scene, Past Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 18:23:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9505208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allourheroes/pseuds/allourheroes
Summary: It's time to go back.Companion tofor the feeling that i get when you are gone, pre-epilogue.





	

Steve's hand is gentle on Tony's shoulder as he stares down at the wooden cradle.

There's a small--impossibly small--bundle down there but Steve can't see her face.

"You can't," Tony says, and his voice sounds harsh and wrong.

Steve doesn't process the feeling as panic, as desperation, as loss, but he scoops up the baby and starts pulling back layers of blanket only to find that they never end.

Tony--Dream Tony--laughs bitterly and Steve wakes up.

He wants to reach out, but there's no one and nothing.

The bunker is on the other side of the world.

He's dreamt this before, just like he's dreamt about the shield hitting concrete after it snaps Tony's spine, just like he's dreamt about waking up to find all of them dead and everything in ruins.

Sometimes it's not that at all though.

Sometimes it's that he just can't talk to Tony, no matter how hard he tries. He'll call and it won't go through, he'll try to find him in the old tower and everything will be like it once was except empty and cold. In that dream, he still sees the cradle.

Steve sits at the edge of his cot for only a moment, considering his options.

He's been gone so long.

They've done so much and yet so little.

He goes to Sam first, wakes him, then Clint and Scott and Wanda.

"I have to go back," he tells them. They all stare, waiting. "I have to go back for my family," he continues, then looks into each and every face, "and I think all of you are missing someone back home, too."

Everyone's gaze seems to soften as they think of kids and friends and all of the people they long to be with.

After a second, Scott stage-whispers to Sam, "I thought his whole family was dead."

Sam makes a little "oh" sound and proceeds to pull out his phone while the rest of the team watches in confusion. "Maria," Sam tells Scott, flipping through pictures.

"Oh my god." Scott is grinning like an idiot. "She's so cute." He glances at Steve and back at the picture. "So how are they related?"

Steve clears his throat, embarrassed, so it's Wanda who explains. "His daughter."

Scott smiles and nods. "I'm still totally lost, but okay."

"Alright," Sam announces. "Enough small talk. Steve's goin', I'm goin'. Pack your bags if you want to join us."

When Steve manages to sleep on the plane, his slumber is blissfully dreamless.


End file.
